Aegidae

Aegidae
Aega psora
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Class:	Malacostraca
Order:	Isopoda
Suborder:	Cymothoida
Superfamily:	Cymothooidea
Family:	Aegidae White, 1850

The Aegidae are a family of isopod crustaceans. The adults are temporary parasites of fish, feeding on their hosts' blood before dropping off to digest the meal. ^[1] They differ from members of the family Cirolanidae in having only three pairs of hook-like pereiopods, whereas in Cirolanidae all seven pairs of pereiopods are hooked. ^[2] The family was first described by Adam White in 1850. ^[3]

The family contains the following genera: ^[4]

• Aega Leach, 1815
• Aegapheles Bruce, 2009
• Aegiochus Bovallius, 1885
• Alitropus H. Milne-Edwards, 1840
• Epulaega Bruce, 2009
• Rocinela Leach, 1818
• Syscenus Harger, 1880
• Xenuraega Tattersall, 1909

References

1. Richard C. Brusca, Vánia R. Coelho & Stefano Taiti (2007). "Isopoda". In Sol Felty Light; James T. Carlton (eds.). The Light and Smith Manual: Intertidal Invertebrates from Central California to Oregon (4th ed.). University of California Press. pp. 503–542. ISBN   9780520239395.
2. Roger Tory Peterson; Kenneth L. Gosner (1999). A Field Guide to the Atlantic Seashore: from the Bay of Fundy to Cape Hatteras. Peterson Field Guide. Vol. 24. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. p. 225. ISBN   9780618002092.
3. White, A. (1850), List of the specimens of British animals in the collection of the British Museum (published 1845), doi:10.5962/BHL.TITLE.1582, Wikidata   Q115584173
4. Schotte M, Boyko CB, Bruce NL, Poore GC, Taiti S, Wilson GD, eds. (2011). "Aegidae". World Marine, Freshwater and Terrestrial Isopod Crustaceans Database. World Register of Marine Species . Retrieved January 12, 2012.